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amy_counihan

Leaning Fiddle Leaf Fig

4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago

Hi there! New to this discussion board. I'm here worried about my fiddle leaf fig.


I have had it for approximately 2 years and it has grown fabulously. I've never repotted it and it has grown about 3 feet taller with many new leaves since the day I brought it home. 2 days ago it was time to water it. I did what I always do and put it in my bathtub, watered it until it drained out the bottom, then put it back in front of the window. When I came back to it a few hours later, it was suddenly leaning as pictured below. Previously it was standing straight and tall. It's never leaned before. As soon as I saw it, I turned the pot so that the lean is away from the sun, hoping that it'll correct itself by pulling back upwards toward the light. In addition, I've been shaking the branches every time I walk by now to encourage them to strengthen.


What are your thoughts? Should I stake it or give it more time to hopefully straighten itself out? I don't understand why it happened so suddenly. I also added a picture of what it looks like in the pot currently. I'm not sure if repotting right now would make the issue worse. My dog is apparently also very upset about it haha






Comments (3)

  • 4 years ago

    well for gods sake.. thats a new way for a dog to pee on a houseplant.. lol ...


    its too heavy with leaves.. to pull it self up toward the window.. though good thinking in that regard ...


    i think you are left with staking it somehow.. and with that bulky a plant.. in that small a pot.. good luck figuring out how to do that ....


    you might want to consider taking some cutting for propagation.. to basically prune your plant into a more stable form ...


    and its looking like its time for a repot... media does wear out .. and you got a LOT of plant in that pot ...


    lots of things to consider... and say hi to the dog for me.. what a card ...


    ken


    https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=fiddle+leaf+propagation&iax=videos&ia=videos

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Hi, Amy - The reason the plant won't support itself is, it's not receiving enough light. There are 2 fixes for this issue. 1) As a prophylactic measure, give it more light. Summering the plant outdoors would do wonders for it's vitality and increase the thickness/ strength of the stems/trunks. Plants thicken most when they are creating more energy than they need to maintain existing living cells and keep their systems orderly. Reason they grow: to provide a place to store the excess energy. If your plant is barely breaking even in terms of energy production being able to keep up with energy use, it's not in a good place (not referring to its location, but that too. 2) The lean of a plant that's lying over due to a weak trunk is easily remedied by pruning the trunk. Staking is exactly what it looks like - a crutch, and there is really no need for it if you prune judiciously.

    The images below are of a young cherry tree in training as a future bonsai. I took the liberty of wiring a root sucker into a passable representation of what you're dealing with, weakness in the stems/trunks of your clump planting.




    After I pruned away some of the clutter, take note of where the small piece of string is tied to the sucker - that is where a pruning cut must be made to make the new branch that will grow just behind the pruning cut grow mack toward the central axis of the plant (toward a point directly above where the trunk(s) exit the soil.



    Above, I have roughly pruned the stem, and you can see a burgundy bud in the leaf axil (crotch formed by the leaf stem and the branch/ trunk). I cut the leaf along either side of the main vein (to improve the illustration) and wired it in the direction the new branch (that comes from the visible bud) will grow. As long as the tree is viable (alive) the direction the new branch will grow is as reliable as the sunrise, not withstanding the effects phototropism (bending toward the light). As you can see, it changes the direction the branch is growing so it is now growing back toward the center of the planting. This is called 'directional pruning', or sometimes, the 'clip-and-grow' method. It is a valuable tool to have as part of your skillset.

    If you want help with the pruning, I'll help you get things straightened around. Your set-up, with the multi-legged pot holder is going to make it very easy to maintain as much of the planting's current ht as possible, this, by using a combination of pruning and mechanical manipulation, a fancy term for zip-tying some sticks of wood to the vertical legs and using them as temporary anchor points to straighten the offending trunks.

    Your tree also needs repotting, and I'm guessing that 5 or 7 trunks will end up looking the best, with the 'extras' being eliminated.

    Al

    Amy C thanked tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
  • 4 years ago

    I have no idea about your plant, but love the dog and Ken’s comment Thanks for the chuckle.